Epilogue - 021

"What you are missing is that Royalty matters," said Don King. "You didn't get along with your father, right?"

"No."

The King sat back a bit, relaxing his posture again. "I had two heirs, both croaked. A son and a daughter. I didn't get along with my daughter, either. And my son...he made a play for the throne. Didn't work out for him." The seriousness of Don's tone gave Jillian a chill. "He would've made a bad king."

"I see."

"Things changed after that. I changed how my kingdom was organized. We simplified. We dropped a lot of these frufru things about Nobilty, stuck to what was useful. We kept our titles, but we didn't use them so much. It helped clear up where the respect should really go."

Don King's gaze went distant for a moment, as if he was seeing into the past. "Caesar Borgata is my heir designate. He earned it. My Warlords respect him like they never respected the Prince or Princess. But he was only Viscount of Vitalis, barely a Noble. Recent events have forced me to reconsider whether or not that should matter."

Jillian tried to follow. "What do you mean? Gobwin Knob?"

"Specifically, I mean Stanley. His claim to a new Titanic mandate, based on his attunement to an Arkentool. Charlie has been attuned to the Arkendish for a long time, but he's careful not to claim it means anything. He's never been a threat to anybody, and he's useful, if a pain in the keister to deal with. Stanley, on the other hand, thinks wielding the Arkenhammer puts him in a class above Royalty. And he says so."

Jillian had been doing a fairly good job keeping Ansom from her mind for the last few days, but it hit her now, almost randomly. Ansom was gone. Her vision went watery. "Prince Ansom...cared a lot about that," she said. She took a deep breath, When she let it out, it stuttered a little bit.

"His father does, too," said Don King, sounding a bit kinder now. "We've been talking, he and I."

Something about Jillian's expression must have given away her opinion of King Slately. "I know," said Don King, "He's a dry turd."

She barked out a sudden laugh, and one little tear escaped down her cheek. She smeared it away with her wrist. "Yeah."

"But I like to talk with him. He makes a good deal of sense sometimes. And there are some things that only Royals can talk about, you know?" He looked at her closely. "Maybe you don't."

"I don't think I do," said Jillian softly.

"That's been your choice, but it's not a choice you can really make. Just as a mouse cannot choose to be a wolf, a wolf can't live like a mouse. You are so clearly a Royal that it pains me to see how you act. You cannot forever deny the way the Titans made you."

"How?" Jillian challenged. "How am I 'clearly a Royal?'"

"Hundreds of little ways. You act rudely on purpose, but rudeness shocks you. You hate Stanley instinctively. You tell yourself that's because he wiped out your side, and more lately, because he croaked Prince Ansom. But it's instinct. I'm told you are powerful and fearless in battle. And you loved Ansom. Did he love you?"

The question blindsided her, and she could only say, "I think so. Yes."

"Further proof. You must come to terms with your nature, Jillian. You should learn to take tea. It's nice."

She could feel herself riding on the edge of tears again. "And 'Princess?' I should learn to take that, too?"

"No," said Don King in grave seriousness. "I have a different title in mind. When I say it, you might also like to shout and throw your teacup. Please be my guest. But it is your best possible bet for getting Stanley."

His business at last. She steeled herself.

"What."

"Take your rightful title, Jillian. Queen of Faq. Transylvito will help you rebuild."

Her ears rang. She stared at Don King for a long, long moment, without breathing. No. No no. She was a beetle in a glass bottle, furiously looking for a way out, a way that he wasn't right, but slipping back down over and over again. Ansom would want this some part of her mind told her. Another part was already doing old calculations for Faq's three cities popping gwiffons and megalogwiffs on a full war footing. How many turns before she could raise enough units to take Gobwin Knob by air...?

She stood up, and looked at the table. Instead of the cup, she picked up the teapot and hurled it with a piercing scream of frustration.

gloating aside.The question is, what will Jillian do? She has accepted that there is no rational reason for her to refuse Don's offer. However, her throwing of the tea kettle may mean one of two things
1) She has spent so long hiding from her nature as a royal, that she is frustrated when she finds herself unable to avoid it.
2) Despite her decision that, rationally, becoming Queen of FAQ is the right thing to do, she still rejects it. The wording "Rather than picking up the cup (representing her acceptance of Royalty, and all that comes with it.) She threw the Kettle.

i'm pretty sure everyone called that. faq was broke most of the time and if jillian is hoping to do anything in her capital she will need schmukers to set up. she can only carry, at most, 9000 schmukers, so i doubt she'd get far on that alone. repopping the capital if it's ruined might cost far more.

i'd still be hesitant to owe TV anything. she's already heard they run a protection setup on the carpudlians. the last thing she needs is a kingdom heavily indebted to TV while stanley appears to be within one - two turns move.

they at least had a foolamancer before for veiling themselves from GK. and there is at least two members of GK wanting to steamroll jillian.

you just don't like him, he's stronger in a fight than much larger forces brought against him. he's an awful leader i will agree. but military might has put far worse morons in charge of large empires throughout our own history. he has the strength and he's using it to make gains. the other kingdoms fear that.

if they didn't...tv would be rushing into that multi hex trap to clean up the leftovers.

No, I simply see Stanley through a clear lense. Stanley was born to be a Chief Warlord- his tactical cunning is superb in narrow situations, like when he captured Jillian in the first book without a prompt from Wanda or anyone else. He also had mad leadership bonus as evidenced during the dance-fight at the chokepoint, and he has the Arkenhammer.

I don't have to go into his failings, but they all relate to dealing with people and dealing with situations outside of his area of narrow genius. He thinks he's bringing a new order to the world, but Wanda, via the self-fulfilling prophecy of Faq, is changing the world in unpredictable ways.

Stanley may change, but I foresee him getting a knife in the back. Parson is sure not going to do anything to stop that once he figures out that he can't be disbanded.

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you just don't like him, he's stronger in a fight than much larger forces brought against him. he's an awful leader i will agree. but military might has put far worse morons in charge of large empires throughout our own history. he has the strength and he's using it to make gains. the other kingdoms fear that.

if they didn't...tv would be rushing into that multi hex trap to clean up the leftovers.

No, I simply see Stanley through a clear lense. Stanley was born to be a Chief Warlord-

i'm not sure you've been paying attention or you meant that he was fated to be a chiefwarlord? the literal meaning of what you've just said is completely wrong

SMD wrote:

his tactical cunning is superb in narrow situations, like when he captured Jillian in the first book without a prompt from Wanda or anyone else. He also had mad leadership bonus as evidenced during the dance-fight at the chokepoint, and he has the Arkenhammer.

I don't have to go into his failings, but they all relate to dealing with people and dealing with situations outside of his area of narrow genius. He thinks he's bringing a new order to the world, but Wanda, via the self-fulfilling prophecy of Faq, is changing the world in unpredictable ways.

Stanley may change, but I foresee him getting a knife in the back. Parson is sure not going to do anything to stop that once he figures out that he can't be disbanded.

ok but this still doesn't make him a rat, or a mouse. he is strongwilled and stubborn with the intelligence of a toddler..armed with a machne gun. if anything he's a pig. or a donkey.

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Invite up to 5 people off the street, pick a card, and argue about arcane details for hours!
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well done. I'll take Sympathetic Characters, for 500.

Seriously though. I enjoy these forums. Though they do at times get to be something like reading a page of a novel and then picking it apart. Feels like there's something being lost by doing it, but in absence of the following page, I'll take what I can get.

EDIT:

Quote:

ok but this still doesn't make him a rat, or a mouse. he is strongwilled and stubborn with the intelligence of a toddler..armed with a machne gun. if anything he's a pig. or a donkey.

i'm not sure you've been paying attention or you meant that he was fated to be a chiefwarlord? the literal meaning of what you've just said is completely wrong

I'm using Don's perspective. Stanley was popped with certain abilities and qualities that would make him outstanding as a normal Chief Warlord(Assuming the whole world isn't coming for you). The Peter principle applies here- Stanley did great up until the point that he became supreme ruler. At that point, the job got a little big for him.

moose o death wrote:

ok but this still doesn't make him a rat, or a mouse. he is strongwilled and stubborn with the intelligence of a toddler..armed with a machne gun. if anything he's a pig. or a donkey.

And now you're insulting him. He's not an idiot, he just has massive blind spots due to his swollen head.

ok but this still doesn't make him a rat, or a mouse. he is strongwilled and stubborn with the intelligence of a toddler..armed with a machne gun. if anything he's a pig. or a donkey.

And now you're insulting him. He's not an idiot, he just has massive blind spots due to his swollen head.

so can we now agree these animal comparisons are stupid and refer more to your own preconceived notions than you would anticipate. this is why there are dog people and cat people. i can't stand cats, and many people think dogs are too stupid to exist.

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